Card or sheet feeding mechanism



Oct. 30, 193 J. M. G UENTHER CARD OR SHEET FEEDING MECHANISM Filed Jan.6, 1954 3 Sheets-Sheet l ATTOR N EYS Oct. 30, 1934. J M GUENTHER1,979,153

CARD OR SHEET FEEDING MECHANISM Filed Jan. 6, 1934 3 Sheets-Sheet 2INVENTOR ATTO RN EYS Oct. 30, 1934. J. M, T R 1,979,153

CARD OR SHEET FEEDING MECHANISM Filed Jan. 6, 1934 5 Sheets-Sheet 3INVENTOR ATTO R N EYS Patented Oct. 30, 1934 UNITED, STATES PATENTOFFICE cam) on. SHEET FEEDING MECHANISM Joseph M. Guenther, Bufl'alo, N.Y. Application January 6, 1934, Serial No. 705,555

3 Claims. (01. 271-32) 10 ful for feeding sheets successively from astack to other machines which operate upon such sheets, such as printingpresses, folding machines, letter cancelling machines and the like.

In the present case the sheets of paper which are fed from the stack mayhave printed thereon any suitable information either of an instructive,advertising, or other character, and when discharged from this feedingmachine the same are inserted successively between the loaf of bread orthe like and the wrapper in which the former is enclosed.

It is the object of this invention to provide a sheet feeding machine ofthis character which will reliably remove one sheet at a time from thestack and discharge the same to the machine adapted to receive the same,which is efficient and'rapid in its operation, and which iscomparatively simple inconstruction, not liable to get out of order andhas all its .parts easily accessible for inspection and adjustment.

.In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a sheet feeding machine embodying myimprovements.

Figure 2 is a front elevation of the same with the part thereof insection taken on line 2-2 Fig. 1.

Figure 3 is a side elevation thereof with a part broken away for thepurpose of more clearly illustrating the same.

Figure 4 is a vertical section taken online 44 Fig. 3. 1

Figure 5 is a horizontal section taken on line 5-5 Fig. 2.

Figure 6 is a vertical section on a reduced scale, taken on line 6-6Fig. 1 and showing the mechanism for driving the various elements of themachine in unison and in timed relation from a single motor.

In the following description similar characters of reference indicatelike parts in the several figures of the drawings:

In its general organization this machine comprises means for supportinga stack or pile of sheets so that each sheet is arranged in asubstantially upright position and is supported at its lower edge, meansfor separating the sheets successively from the pile at the front end ofthe same, and means for delivering or ejecting the sheets successivelyfrom the separating mechanism so that they will be received between theloaf and wrapper during the operation of wrapping loaves of bread or thelike.

The sheets of paper which are to be fed by this machine may be of anydesired shape and character, for example these sheets may be of oblong,rectangular form as shown by full lines at 10 in- Figs. 1, 3 and 5 andby dotted lines in Fig. 4.

The support for the stack of sheets of this character includes amagazine or trough-like holder which has an inclined bottom 11 formed bya plate, and two side walls arranged along opposite edges of the bottomand an open top. Each of the side walls is preferably constructed of twolongitudinal bars 12 arranged one above the other, and these areconnected with the bottom by means of brackets 13 each of which extendsalong the underside of the bottom and the outer side of the bars 12, asbest shown in Fig. 4.

This magazine is supported in an inclined position with its discharge orfront end lowermost and for this purpose the front end of the magazineis secured to a main frame 14 which not only serves as a support for theworking parts of the sheet feeding machine but may also form a supportfor the parts of the machine to which the sheets are delivered by thesheet feeder mechanism.

The stack of sheets or cards is arranged within this magazine so-thatthe lower edges of the sheets rest on the bottom, and the vertical sideedges thereof are close to the side walls of the magazine whereby thestack is guided from the rear end toward the front end thereof, as thesheets are fed off successively from the front end of this stack. As thefeeding off of the sheets from the front end progresses the stack isadvanced by sliding down the inclined bottom of the magazine by gravityaided, if necessary, by means of a follower which engages with the rearend of the stack. Although this follower may be of various forms thesame preferably consists of a lower base 15 which is provided with a'plurality of rollers 16 engaging with the bottom of the magazine, andan upright thrust plate 17 arranged at the front end of the base plateand engaging with the rear end of the stack, as best shown in Figs. 1, 3and 5.

At its front end the magazine is provided with Stop means which engagewith the front side of the stack of sheets adjacent to opposite verticaledges thereof, for the purpose of retaining the stack of sheets withinthe magazine and preventing discharge of the same at the front end ofthe mechanism excepting when the foremost sheet is operated upon by theseparating mechanism, said stop means consisting preferably of stop lugs18 arranged at the front ends of the side bars 12 and projectinginwardly into the path oggre upright edge portions of the stack ofsheets or cards in the magazine so that the forward movement of thelatter under the action of gravity and the weight of the follower isarrested.

The me ns whereby the sheets are successively sepaszm from the fro: 3end of the stack preparatory to delivering the same from the machine maybe variously constructed, but in the present instance these meansinclude a pneumatic gripper 19 having preferably the form of an elasticcup of rubber or the like which is movable lengthwise toward and fromthe central part of the stack of sheets at the front end thereof. Duringthe backward movement of this pneumatic gripper air is exhausted fromthe same so that when it engages the central part of the foremost sheetor card in the stack the latter will adhere to this gripper, and thisair exhausting effect upon the gripper is continued during thesubsequent forward or return movement of the gripper so that theforemost card or sheet of the stack is separated or removed from thestack and caried forwardly therefrom to the forward part of the strokeof the gripper. During the last part of this forward stroke theexhausting effect upon the pneumatic gripper is broken so as to releasethe hold of the gripper on the separated sheet and permit the latter tobe moved transversely therefrom to the mechanism which is adapted toutilize the separated sheet.

' As the pneumatic gripper or suction cup adheres to the central part ofthe foremost sheet in. the stack and this gripper moves forwardly oraway from the stack, the central part of the foremost sheet is bulgedforwardly, as shown in Fig. 5, and the opposite vertical edges thereofare sprung inwardly out of engagement from the stops 18 at the front endof the magazine, there-- by separating the foremost sheet from the stackand permitting the stack to move forwardly so as to engage the nextfollowing foremost sheet with these stops. It has been found in practicethat when feeding some kinds of sheets or cards the same do not separatereadily one from another, and to facilitate this an air blast isdelivered between the edges of the foremost sheets of the stack. In thepresent case this is accomplished by means of a nozzle 20 which isarranged over the front part of the magazine and is adapted to deliver adownward blast or jet of air against the upper side of the stack betweenthe opposite vertical edges thereof adjacent to the foremost part of thestack, whereby the sheets or cards upon approaching the front ordelivery end of the magazine, are loosened relatively to each other bythe introduction of the stream of air betwen the same and thus aids inthe operation of feeding one sheet or card at a time from the front endof the stack.

A further aid in preventing the feeding off of more than one sheet at atime from this stack consists of two resilient or spring fingers 21having the form of curved strips of spring metal arranged above themagazine and stack of sheets therein on opposite sides of thelongitudinal center thereof, and each having a downwardly bent innercorner 22 which is adapted to be engaged by the upper edge of the sheetsin the magazine at the discharge end thereof, so that when each of thesesheets is moved forwardly away from the stack by the pneumatic gripperthis sheet will deflect the resilient separating fingers out of the pathof the sheet and permit these fingers to spring back into the path ofthe next following sheet for preventing the latter from being carriedaway with the first sheet and thereby aid in preventing the feeding ofmore than one sheet from the pile or stack at a time. 1

These spring separating fingers may be held in place in any suitablemanner but preferably by securing the rear ends of the same between anupper cross bar 23 on top of the magazine, and a clamping plate 24connected with the underside of this bar 23 by means of bolts 25, asshown in Figs. 1. 3 and 4.

In handling some kinds of sheet material it has been found that thesametend to stick together and are liable to be fed off more than one ata time unless the upper corners thereof are held back relative to thelower parts of these sheets. To accomplish this two detent fingers 26are provided which are arranged in the path of the upper corner portionsof the stack so as to be engaged by the front side of the oppositeupward corners of the successive sheets and hold the same back relativeto the lower corners thereof while the pneumatic gripper seizes thecentral part of'the respective sheet and moves -the latter forwardly,thereby causing this sheet to bulge forwardly to a greater extent duringthe initial part of its forward movement with the tripper and therebycause the same to be separated effectively from the next following sheetin the stack.

In order to enable these detent fingers to be accurately adjusted to theupper front corners of the sheets to suit different conditions andrequirements, each of these fingers is mounted on the front end of asupporting rod 27 and the latter is adjustably secured to the adjacentupright part 131 of the bar 23 by means of a clamping bolt 28 so thatthe respective finger 26 can be either raised or lowered or movedlongitudinally of the magazine to suit the requirements of theparticular sheets which are being fed.

In order to permit of adjusting the nozzle 20 for delivering the jet ofair against the sheets in the stack to suit different conditions orrequire-- ments, thisnozzle is mounted on the front end of alongitudinal pipe 29 which is capable of sliding lengthwise in aguideway formed between the upper part of the cross bar 23 and a clip 30secured to the upper side of this cross bar, and

a set screw 31 arranged in the clip 30 and engaging with thelongitudinal pipe 29, as shown in Figs. 1, 3 and 4. This air blastnozzle may receive air under pressure from any suitable source, forinstance from a rotary blower, compressor or pump 32 mounted on thelower part of the main frame 14 and having its outlet connected with thelongitudinal pipe 29 of the blast nozzle by means of a conduitcomprising a lower section 33 connected with the outlet of the air pumpor blower 32, and a flexible section 34 connecting the upper part ofthis lower conduit section 33 with a branch pipe 291 extending laterallyfrom the rear end of the longitudinal pipe 29, as best shown in Figs. 1and 6. Due to the flexibility of the pipe section 34 the nozzle 20 andassociated parts can be adjusted freely to the required position withoutinterfering with the piping between the same and the pump or blower 32.

In order to enable the pressure of the air blast nozzle 20 to beregulated in accordance with the requirements of the particular sheetswhich are being fed, an adjusting or regulating valve 35 is provided inthe conduit leading to this nozzle, which adjusting valve is preferablyarranged in the upper part of the conduit section 33 where the same iswithin convenient reach of the operator while setting up the machine andthus enables himto vary the pressure of the air issuing from the nozzle20 so as to obtain the required separating effect on the foremost sheetsof the stack which are being fed.

This regulating valve 35 is preferably so constructed that the same willpermit either the entire air pressure from thepump or blower 32 to passto the nozzle 20, 'or it will permit more or less air pressure of thispump to reach the nozzle 20, while some of the air pressure is permittedto escape to the atmosphere and still operate the pump or blower at thesame speed or output, thereby avoiding the necessity of varying thespeed of the pump to secure such variation in air pressure at the outletof the nozzle, as would otherwise be necessary.

When the pneumatic gripper 19 of the sheet separating mechanism reachesthe forward part of its stroke and the suction ofthis gripper upon theforemost sheet is released, this sheet is deposited upon the inner sideof a stationary abutment which, in the present case, preferably consistsof an upright abutment plate 36 which is arranged transversely in frontof the outlet end of the magazine but separated therefrom by anintervening space. This abutment plate is secured to the upper end ofthe main frame 14 and provided with an opening 3'? through which thepneumatic gripper 19 is adapted to move during the operation ofadvancing toward the front end of the stack for receiving the foremostsheet thereof and then retracting in rear of the face or front side ofthis abutment for depositing the separated sheet against the abutment.

Although various means may be provided for reciprocating the pneumaticgripper and also exhausting the air therefrom to produce a grippingeffect and destroying the suction so as to interrupt this suctioneffect, it is preferable to employ the means for this purpose which arebest shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6 of the drawings and constructed asfollows:

The numeral 38 represents a longitudinal ro which carries the suctioncup or gripper 19 at its front end and which is guided so as to permitthe same to reciprocate lengthwise in a guideway 39 formed in the upperpart of a supporting head 40 which is mounted on the rear side of theabutment plate 36. The rear end of this gripper rod 38 projects beyondthe rear end of the supporting head 40 and is provided with a transverseblock 41. Rotation of the gripper rod 38 is prevented but longitudinalreciprocation thereof is permitted by means of a steadying guide rod 42arranged on one side of the gripper rod 38 and secured at its front endto the supporting head 40 while the rear part thereof passes through anopening 43 in the adjacent part of the cross block 41 so that the lattercan slide on this guide rod 42, but

this block and the gripper rod 38 are held against turning.

The gripper rod, together with the gripper mounted thereon, are movedbackwardly by resilient or yielding means which, in the present case,preferably consist of a spring 44 arranged lengthwise of the gripper rod38 on that side thereof opposite to the guide rod 42, which spring isconnected by means of a screw 45 with the corresponding end of the crossblock 41, while the rear end of this spring is secured to an arm 46extending outwardly from the supporting head 40 and in effect forming apart thereof.

Forward movement of the gripper 19 and its rod 38 is effected by meansof an upright rock lever 47 pivoted on a bracket 48 projectingrearwardly from the abutment plate 36, the lower arm of this leverengaging with the rear side of the cross block 41, while the upper armis connected by means of a connecting rod 49 with the crank 50 of a disk51. The latter is secured to the upper end of a counter shaft 52 whichis journaled in a lower bearing 53 in the supporting head 40 and also inan upper bearing formed in a bracket 54 secured to the upper part of theabutment plate 36. A continuous rotary movement is imparted to the shaft52 from a source of power such as an electric motor 55, for whichpurpose motion may be transmitted from this motor to the shaft 52 in anysuitable or approved manner. As best shown in Fig. 6 this isaccomplished by means of a horizontal driving shaft 56 journaled in thelower part of the main frame and driven from the motor 55 by means of abelt 57 passing around pulleys 58, 59 secured to the motor shaftand themain driving shaft respectively, an intermediate shaft 60 journaled insuitable bearings in the bracket 54 and the main frame, intermeshingbevelled gear wheels 61, 62 operatively connecting the driving shaft 56with the upright shaft 60, and intermeshing gear wheels 63, 64 securedto the upper parts of the intermediate shaft 60 and the countershaft 52.

Motion for driving the pump 32 is also derived from the motor 55 and forthis purpose a belt 65 is employed and passes around an upper pulley 66on the driving shaft 56, and a pulley 67 on the shaft of the aircompressor, pump or blower 32.

The front part of the gripper rod 34 is of tubular form as shown at 68and communicates with the face of the pneumatic gripper or suction cup19, as best shown in Fig. 5. On one side the tubular part of thisgripper rod is provided with a longitudinal slot or port 69 which isadapted to communicate alternately with a suction port 70 in thesupporting head 40 and with the atmosphere for the purpose of eithercreating a vacuum or suction effect in the gripper 19 so as to enablethe same to attach itself to the foremost sheet in the stack, or todestroy this vacuum effect and release the hold of the gripper on therespective sheet. For this purpose the slotted port 69 in the side ofthe front part of the gripper rod is so located and is of such lengththat while this gripper rod is in its forward position this slot isarranged within the head 40 and communicates with the suction port '70,whereby air is exhausted from the tubular part 68 of the gripper rod andthe gripper or cup 19 connected therewith, so that the latter, uponengaging the central part of the foremost sheet in the stack, will causethis sheet to adhere to this gripper and to be moved forwardly from thestack, but when this gripper or suction cup reaches a position withinthe opening 37 of the abutment during the last part of the retractingmovement of the gripper cup and rod, then the inner end of the slot 69will have passed outwardly beyond the suction port 70 so as to cut offthe further air exhausting effect from the suction cup or gripper andthe outer end of this slot will have passed beyond the outer side of thesupporting head 40 and thereby place the interior of the tubular part ofthe gripper rod and the gripper cup in communication with theatmosphere, and cause the vacuum therein to be broken and the grip ofthe cup 19 on the sheet to be released.

The suction through the port 70 is produced by connecting the same withthe inlet of the pump, blower or compressor 32 by means of a pipe orconduit 71, as shown in Fig. 6. In order to enable the operator to cutoff the suction effect of this pump from the pneumatic gripper and alsoto restore the same when desired and still permit the air pump orcompressor to operate continuously, a vent or controlling valve isprovided for either breaking the vacuum effect of the pump on thepneumatic gripper 19 or restoring the same, which valve in its preferredconstruction consists of a valve body 72 connected with the conduit 71so as to form a part thereof, and a shutter 73 pivoted on the valve body72 and adapted to open and close a port 74 in the side of the latter.When the port 74 is closed the suction of the pump or compressor 32 uponthe pneumatic gripper 19 is effective but when the shutter 73 of thevent 'valve is open, as shown in Fig, 1, the suction effect of this pumpupon the pneumatic gripper is broken and thereby stops the feedingaction of sheets from the magazine to the abutment. This vent valvetherefore enables the sheet feeder to be quickly stopped and startedfrom a point on top of the machine where this vent valve is located andthus facilitates adjusting the parts when getting the machine ready fora run. The air exhaust pipe 71 is also provided with a regulating valve75 whereby more or less of the air exhausting effect of the blower 32may be exerted on the pneumatic gripper 19 and more or less of the airwhich is drawn in by the inlet side of this pump may be derived from theatmosphere and thereby enable the hold of the pneumatic gripper on thesheets which are being fed to be regulated to suit different materialsor conditions and still permit the air compressor or pump to operate atthe same speed.

After each sheet has been moved lengthwise from the front side of thestack and released at the front side or face of the abutment, this sheetis moved transversely relative to the magazine and separating mechanismand delivered or ejected from the feeding machine for such use as may bedesired. The delivering or ejecting mechanism for this purpose, as shownin the drawings, is preferably constructed as follows:

. Movable in a direction parallel with the face of the abutment andprojecting from the face thereof toward the magazine is an ejector whichpreferably consists of two fingers 76 which are arranged one above theother. Each of these ejector fingers is arranged at the inner end of ahorizontal rod 77 which is movable lengthwise in a horizontal slot 78 inthe adjacent part of the abutment 86.

The two outer ends of the two ejector rods 77 are secured by means ofbolts 79 or other suitable fastening to the upright arm 80 of atransverse reciprocable slide which is arranged in rear of the abutment36, which arm is provided with a horizontal rod 81 which is movable in aguideway consisting of two clips or eyes 82 mounted on the rear side ofthe abutment plate, as best shown in Figs. 1, 2, 5 and 6.

A reciprocating movement is imparted to this ejector slide by motionderived from the electric motor 55 by operatively connecting thisejector slide with the counter shaft 52. The means for actuating theejector slide from this countershaft preferably comprises a crank disk83 arranged on the lower end of the counter shaft 52 and provided with acrank 84 and a connecting rod 85 which connects the crank 84 with acoupling block 86 on the outer part of the ejector rod 81. 4

The two slots 78 in the abutment plate 36 are arranged above and belowthe opening 37 which receives the pneumatic gripper or cup, as bestshown in Fig. 4,- so that the movements of this gripper lengthwise backand forth between the magazine and the abutment plate and the movementof the ejector fingers transversely back and forth will not interferewith each other.

The relative timing of this sheet separating and ejector mechanism issuch that after the ejectorfingers have moved forwardly and carried thesheet out of the path of the retracted pneumatic gripper the latter willadvance toward the foremost sheet in the stack, grip the same and carryit forwardly to the abutment plate, and during such movement of thenewly separated sheet the ejector fingers are retracted from theirforemost position to the rearmost position and thereafter effect thenext following forward movement during which they engage the rear edgeof the sheet which has been deposited in front of the abutment and movethe latter transversely away from the pneumatic gripper and toward theopposite side of the same and the magazine. 1 i

This movement of the parts continues in the order mentioned while themachine is in normal operation, thereby causing the sheets to besuccessively separated lengthwise from the magazine and then deliveredor ejectedtransversely As each sheet is discharged from the feedingmechanism any desired disposition of the same may be made, depending onthe particular use which is to be made of the sheets or the char.- acterof the machine with which this feeding mechanism cooperates.

Inasmuch as it is immaterial'what disposition is made of the sheetsafter they leave the feeding mechanism the drawings in the present casemerely illustrate a conventional carrier, conveyor or propeller which isadapted to receive the sheets from the ejector mechanism of the sheetfeeder and move the same to Whatever mechanism is intended to receivethe successive sheets or to operate upon them. The conveyor mechanismfor this purpose which is shown conventionally in the drawings comprisestwo supporting rollers or pulleys 87, 87 journaled by means of uprightpivots 88 on the main frame of the machine and. two endless belts 89passing with their receiving turns around the pulleys 87 and adapted toreceive between their opposing longitudinal stretches the sheets whichare successively fed off from the stack in the magazine The deliveryturns of the conveyor belts may be located wherever desired and formpart of the machine which receives the sheets and operates upon them.

The conveyor belts may also be driven by various means and as these forma part of the present invention no special form of mechanism is shown ordescribed for this purpose.

This sheet feeding machine is very simple and compact in constructionand therefore wellsuited for use in connection with machines in which alimited amount of spaceis available for a mechanism of this character.None of the parts of the machine are of delicate construction and onthis account the machine is very durable and not likely to get out oforder. Moreover, this machine is capable of feeding sheets of variousstiffness, texture or quality with comparative rapidity and without anyappreciable number of misses, thereby enabling the feeding of sheetsfrom the stack to be effected with reasonable uniformity and accuracyand also insuring a substantial economy due to the avoidance ofloss oftime which would be incident to frequent stopp ge of the machine.

I claim as my invention:

1. A sheet feeding machine comprising a supply magazine adapted tosupport a stack of sheets, an abutment arranged transversely in front ofsaid magazine, a reciprocating pneumatic gripper movable lengthwise forcarrying sheets from the front of said magazine to said abutment, asuction tube carrying said gripper and communicating therewith, meansfor alternately exhausting air from said tube for causing said gripperto hold a sheet and breaking said exhausting effect to release the sheetfrom said gripper, positive means for moving said tube forwardly,and'resilient means for moving said tube backwardly.

2. A sheet feeding machine comprising a supply magazine adapted tosupport a stack of gripper, a block connected with said tube, posi tivemeans for moving said tube forwardly including a rock lever having onearm engaging the rear side of said block, a rotary shaft having a crank,a rod connecting said crank and the other arm of said lever, and aspring for retracting said tube connected at one end with said block andat its opposite end with a stationary part of the machine.

3. A sheet feeding machine comprising a supply magazine adapted tosupport a stack of sheets, an abutment arranged transversely in front ofsaid magazine, a reciprocating pneumatic gripper movable lengthwise forcarrying sheets from the front of said magazine to said abutment, asuction tube carrying said gripper and communicating therewith, meansfor alternately exhausting air from said tube for causing said gripperto hold a sheet and breaking said exhausting effect to release the sheetfrom said gripper, a block connected with said tube, positive means formoving said tube forwardly including a rock lever having one armengaging the rear side of said block, a rotary shaft having a,crank, arod connecting said crank and the other arm of said lever, a supporthaving a guideway in which said tube slides, a guide rod for said blocksecured to said support on one side of said tube, and a retractingspring connected at its front end with said block on the opposite sideof said tube and attached at its rear to a part of said support.

JOSEPH M. GUENTHER.

